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{{Short description|Ethno-religious group in the Balkans}}
{{hatnote|This article is about Macedonian-speaking Muslim ethnoreligious group. For other Muslim populations from the wider region of Macedonia, see [[Dönmeh|Selânikli]], [[Pomaks]], [[Vallahades]], [[Gorani (ethnic group)|Gorani]].}}
{{Infobox ethnic group
| group            = Torbeši
| image            = Zensko oro - proslava na sunet - Gorno Kosovrasti.JPG
| caption          = Female folk dance of Torbeši in the village of Gorno Kosovrasti, near [[Debar]]
| pop              = 39,555<ref>{{cite book| last=Hugh |first=Poulton |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ppbuavUZKEwC&q=Macedonia+39555+1981&pg=PA124 |title=Who Are the Macedonians? |publisher=Hurst & Company, London |date=2000 |page=124|isbn=9781850655343 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book| last=Pettifer |first=James |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_OggDAAAQBAJ&q=Macedonia+39555+1981&pg=PA115 |title=The new Macedonian Question |publisher=Macmillan Press Ltd |date=1999 |page=115|isbn=9780230535794 }}</ref> (1981)<br>
5,816 ([[2021 North Macedonia census|2021 census]])<ref name="T1006P21.px">{{cite web |publisher=State Statistical office |url=https://makstat.stat.gov.mk/PXWeb/pxweb/mk/MakStat/MakStat__Popisi__Popis2021__NaselenieSet/T1006P21.px/table/tableViewLayout2/ |title=Вкупно резидентно население во Република Северна Македонија според изјаснувањето за етничката припадност, по пол, Попис 2021 }}</ref><ref group = "note">4,174 declared as Torbeš, 1,187 as [[Muslims by ethnicity|Muslims]] and 455 as Muslim Macedonians</ref>
| popplace         = Western North Macedonia, Torbešija, Eastern Albania
| region1          = {{flagcountry|North Macedonia}}: 40,000–100,000<ref>{{cite book |last=Gallagher |first=Tom |title=The Balkans In The New Millennium: In the Shadow of War and Peace |url=https://archive.org/details/balkansnewmillen00gall |url-access=limited |page=[https://archive.org/details/balkansnewmillen00gall/page/n105 85] |location=London |publisher=Routledge |year=2005 |isbn=0-415-34940-0 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book
  | last = Kappeler
  | first = Andreas
  |author2=Edward Allworth |author3=Gerhard Simon |author4=Georg Brunner
   | title = Muslim communities reemerge: historical perspectives on nationality, politics, and opposition in the former Soviet Union and Yugoslavia
  | publisher = Duke University Press
  | year = 1994
  | pages = 331
  | url = {{Google books |plainurl=yes |id=f1qUHMl3JfgC |page=331 }}
  | isbn = 0-8223-1490-8}}</ref><ref>
{{cite book
  | last = Poulton
  | first = Hugh
  | author-link = Hugh Poulton
  | title = Who are the Macedonians?
  | publisher = C. Hurst & Co.
  | year = 2000
  | pages = 124
  | url = {{Google books |plainurl=yes |id=ppbuavUZKEwC |page=124 }}
  | isbn = 1-85065-534-0 }}</ref>
| langs            = [[Macedonian language|Macedonian]]
| rels             = [[File:Star and Crescent.svg|15px|link=]] [[Sunni Islam]]
| related-c        = [[Macedonians (ethnic group)|Macedonians]], [[Pomaks]], [[Macedonian Turks]], [[Albanians]]
}}
{{Macedonians (ethnic group)}}

The '''Torbeši''' ({{langx|mk|Торбеши}}) are a [[Macedonian language|Macedonian-speaking]] [[Islam|Muslim]] [[ethnoreligious]] group in North Macedonia and Albania.<ref name="db" /> The Torbeši are also referred to as '''Macedonian Muslims''' ({{langx|mk|Македонци-муслимани|Makedonci-muslimani}}) or '''Muslim Macedonians'''.<ref name="auto4">{{cite book |last=Kowan |first=J. |year=2000 |title=Macedonia: The Politics of Identity and Difference |location=London |publisher=Pluto Press |isbn=0-7453-1594-1 |page=111 }}</ref><ref name="auto">{{cite book |title=Politics, Power and the Struggle for Democracy in South-East Europe |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bNvbHCUs3tUC&dq=macedonian+muslims&pg=PA256 |page=256 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1997 | isbn=9780521597333 }}</ref><ref name="auto3">{{cite book |title=The Anthropological Field on the Margins of Europe, 1945-1991 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gPTYAwAAQBAJ&dq=macedonian+muslims&pg=PA287 |page=287 |publisher=LIT Verlag |year=2013 |isbn=9783643905079 }}</ref><ref name="auto2">{{cite book |title=The New Macedonian Question |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_OggDAAAQBAJ&dq=macedonian+muslims&pg=PA115 |page=115 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |year=1999 |isbn=9780230535794 }}</ref><ref name="auto1">{{cite book |title=Who Are the Macedonians? |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8_zeaeTOz6YC&dq=macedonian+muslims&pg=PA124 |page=124 |isbn=9780253213594 |author=Hugh Poulton |publisher=Indiana University Press |year=2000 }}</ref> They have been culturally distinct from the [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox Christian]] Macedonian community for centuries, and are linguistically distinct from the larger Muslim ethnic groups in the greater region of [[Macedonia (region)|Macedonia]]: the [[Albanians in North Macedonia|Albanians]], [[Turks in North Macedonia|Turks]] and [[Romani people|Romanis]]. However, some Torbeši also still maintain a strong affiliation with [[Turkey|Turkish]] identity and with [[Macedonian Turks]].<ref>{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yXYKAgAAQBAJ&q=turks+western+thrace+50+000&pg=PA974 |title = Encyclopedia of the World's Minorities|isbn = 9781135193881|last1 = Skutsch|first1 = Carl|date = 2013-11-07| publisher=Routledge }}</ref> The regions inhabited by these Macedonian-speaking Muslims are Debarska Župa, Dolni Drimkol, [[Reka (region)|Reka]], and [[Gollobordë|Golo Brdo]] (in Albania).

==Name==
Many ethnonyms are used for the Macedonian-speaking Muslims. The most widespread ethnonym, which is also their endonym, is Torbeši.{{sfn|Damjanovski|2021|p=29}} There are numerous theories on the origin of the term. Some link it to an [[List of early Slavic peoples|old Slavic tribe]] ''Torbeachei'', whereas other theories have suggested a derivation from the [[Persian language|Persian]] ''torbekes'' meaning person with a bag. According to one theory, the Torbeši were a group of public servants in the [[Ottoman Empire]] tasked to carry bags ({{langx|tr|torba oglanlari}}). Some scholars have linked the term with the ''kutugeri'', a group of [[Bogomilism|Bogomil]] missionaries who carried bags.<ref>*Damjanovski, Ivan (2021) [https://idscs.org.mk/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Political-thought-62.pdf Old Communities and New Controversies: the community of Macedonian-speaking Muslims between ethnicity and religion], Political Thought 62: The term itself is etymologically problematic since there are numerous assumptions on its origin and meaning. Thus, in some accounts the ethnonym is linked with the name of an old Slavic tribe Torbachei, whilst other explanations relate the word with the Persian word torbekes which signifies a person ‘with a bag’. Other accounts correlate the word Torbesh with a specific cluster of public servants in the Turkish army that used to carry bags (torba oglanlari), whilst some scholars link the term with the Bogomil missionaries that carried bags (kutugeri)</ref> The most common explanation in North Macedonia of the origin of the term is that the Torbeš sold their faith for a bag (''torba'' in Macedonian) of goods from the Ottomans.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Zadrożna  |first=Anna |title= 'I am Muslim but I am the European One': Contextual Identities among Muslims from Western Macedonia in Everyday Practices and Narratives. |url=https://www.academia.edu/4909745 |year=2013 |journal=[[Anthropological Journal of European Cultures]] |volume=22 |page=37 |doi=10.3167/ajec.2013.220203 }}</ref>

Among other names ascribed to them are ''Macedonian-speaking Muslims'', ''Našinci'', ''Apovci'', ''Poturi'' and ''Turci'' (Turks).<ref>* Damjanovski, Ivan (2021) [https://idscs.org.mk/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Political-thought-62.pdf Old Communities and New Controversies: the community of Macedonian-speaking Muslims between ethnicity and religion], Political Thought 62: Also there is a big number of ethnonyms ascribed to the Macedonian speaking Muslims. Amongst others, most notable ethnonyms that are used in different regional contexts in Macedona [sic] are: Nashintsi, Pomaks, Apovci, Poturi and Turks. However the most widespread ethnonym (which is also accepted in the academic and political circles) is Torbesh, although the term has polarizing effects on some parts of the Macedonian speaking Muslim community</ref> They are also referred to as ''Macedonian Muslims'' or ''Muslim Macedonians''.<ref name="auto4"/><ref name="auto"/><ref name="auto3"/><ref name="auto2"/><ref name="auto1"/>

In some sources, Macedonian-speaking Muslims are grouped together with [[Pomaks]] and Gorani.<ref>[http://www.kroraina.com/knigi/en/carnegie/chapter1_1.html Report of the International Commission to Inquire into the Causes and Conduct of the Balkan Wars, published by the Endowment Washington, D.C. 1914, p.28, 155, 288, 317], Лабаури, Дмитрий Олегович. Болгарское национальное движение в Македонии и Фракии в 1894-1908 гг: Идеология, программа, практика политической борьбы, София 2008, с. 184-186, Поп Антов, Христо. Спомени, Скопje 2006, с. 22-23, 28-29, [http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=bosnia;cc=bosnia;idno=ahy8710.0001.001;size=l;frm=frameset;seq=249;page=root;view=image Дедиjeр, Jевто, Нова Србија, Београд 1913, с. 229], Петров Гьорче, Материали по изучаванието на Македония, София 1896, с. 475 (Petrov, Giorche. Materials on the Study of Macedonia, Sofia, 1896, p. 475)</ref><ref>[http://www.greekhelsinki.gr/pdf/cedime-se-macedonia-muslims.PDF Center for Documentation and Information on Minorities in Europe - Southeast Europe (CEDIME-SE). Muslims of Macedonia. p. 2, 11]</ref><ref>Лабаури, Дмитрий Олегович. Болгарское национальное движение в Македонии и Фракии в 1894-1908 гг: Идеология, программа, практика политической борьбы, София 2008, с. 184, [http://www.promacedonia.org/vk/vk_1_b2.htm Кънчов, Васил. Македония. Етнография и статистика, с. 39-53 (Kanchov, Vasil. Macedonia — ethnography and statistics Sofia, 1900, p. 39-53)],[http://www.kroraina.com/knigi/gall/ls/title.html Leonhard Schultze Jena. «Makedonien, Landschafts- und Kulturbilder», Jena, G. Fischer, 1927]</ref><ref>Fikret Adanir, Die Makedonische Frage: Ihre Entstehung und Entwicklung bis 1908, Wiesbaden 1979 (in Bulgarian: Аданър, Фикрет. Македонският въпрос, София2002, с. 20)</ref> The Macedonian-speaking Muslims of [[Gollobordë]] are also known as ''Gollobordas''.<ref name="DeRapper6">{{cite web|last=De Rapper|first=Gilles|date=14–16 June 2001|title=The son of three fathers has no hat on his head. Life and social representations in a Macedonian village of Albania|url=https://shs.hal.science/halshs-00291660 |publisher=University College London|access-date=29 July 2016|pages=6 }}</ref><ref name="Pieroni2">{{cite journal|last1=Pieroni|first1=Andrea|last2=Cianfaglione|first2=Kevin|last3=Nedelcheva|first3=Anely|last4=Hajdari|first4=Avni|last5=Mustafa|first5=Behxhet|last6=Quave|first6=Cassandra|title=Resilience at the border: traditional botanical knowledge among Macedonians and Albanians living in Gollobordo, Eastern Albania|journal=Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine|volume=10|issue=31|year=2014|pages=2|doi=10.1186/1746-4269-10-31|pmid=24685013|pmc=3998745 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

==Origins==
The Torbeši are largely the descendants of [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox Christian]] [[Slavs]] from the [[Macedonia (region)|region of Macedonia]] who were converted to [[Islam]] during the centuries when the [[Ottoman Empire]] ruled the [[Balkans]].<ref>Andrew Rossos, Macedonia and the Macedonians: a history, Hoover Institution Press, 2008, {{ISBN|0817948813}}, p. 52.</ref> The various [[Sufi]] orders (like the [[Khalwati order|Khalwati]], [[Rifa'is]] and [[Qadiriyya|Qadiris]]) all played a role in the conversion of the Slavic and [[Paulicianism|Paulician]] population.<ref>Hugh Poulton, Who are the Macedonians?, C. Hurst & Co. Publishers, 1995, {{ISBN|1850652384}}, pp. 29-31.</ref>

Torbeši who identify as ethnic Macedonians claim to be "the truest Macedonians" who speak "clean Macedonian" and have maintained traditions and customs for centuries, unlike their Orthodox Macedonian counterparts.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Zadrożna  |first=Anna |title= 'I am Muslim but I am the European One': Contextual Identities among Muslims from Western Macedonia in Everyday Practices and Narratives. |url=https://www.academia.edu/4909745 |year=2013 |journal=[[Anthropological Journal of European Cultures]] |volume=22 |page=41 |doi=10.3167/ajec.2013.220203 }}</ref>

==Geographic distribution==
===North Macedonia===
The largest concentration of Torbeš can be found in western North Macedonia and eastern Albania.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Dikici |first=Ali |date=2008 |title=The Torbeshes of Macedonia: Religious and National Identity Questions of Macedonian-Speaking Muslims |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13602000802011044 |journal=Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs |language=en |volume=28 |issue=1 |pages=27–43 |doi=10.1080/13602000802011044 |issn=1360-2004|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Most of the villages in Debar regions are populated by Torbeš. The [[Struga municipality]] also holds a large number of Macedonian Muslims who are primarily concentrated in the large village of  [[Labuništa]]. Further north in the Debar region many of the surrounding villages are inhabited by Torbeš. The [[Dolna Reka]] region is also primarily populated by Torbeš. Places such as [[Rostuša]] and also have large Torbeš populations. There are also major concentrations in the central region of North Macedonia, surrounding the [[Plasnica municipality]] and the [[Dolneni municipality]].

[[:mk:Торбешија|Torbešija]] is an ethnographic region in the [[Marko's River]] Valley south of Skopje, today within [[Studeničani Municipality]]. Torbeš began settling in the area in the second half of the 18th century. Beginning in the 20th century, many Torbeš left the area for Turkey or Skopje.<ref>{{cite book |author=Jovan Trifunovski |publisher=Saints Cyril and Methodius University |year=1951 |url=http://periodica.fzf.ukim.edu.mk/godzb/GZ04.1(1951)/GZ04.1.03.%20%D0%A2%D1%80%D0%B8%D1%84%D1%83%D0%BD%D0%BE%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8,%20%D0%88.%20%D0%A4.%20-%20%D0%97%D0%B0%20%D1%82%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B1%D0%B5%D1%88%D0%B8%D1%82%D0%B5%20%D0%B2%D0%BE%20%D0%BF%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B5%D1%87%D0%B8%D0%B5%D1%82%D0%BE%20%D0%BD%D0%B0%20%D0%9C%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B0%20%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%BA%D0%B0.pdf |title=ЗА ТОРБЕШИТЕ ВО ПОРЕЧИЕ ТО НА МАРКОВА РЕКА }}</ref>

===Albania===
The Macedonian-speaking Muslim community of Gollobordë is known as ''Gollobordas'' and in Albania people from the community are considered Albanians instead of Macedonians, even by the Albanian state, and they are known to intermarry with Muslim Albanians and not with Orthodox Macedonians.<ref name="DeRapper6"/><ref name="Pieroni2"/>

In the late 90s, Macedonian linguist Božidar Vidoeski conducted a study on the Macedonian speaking population of Albania. During that time, he notes the existence of a Torbeš population in Gollobordë, on the Macedonian-Albanian border, specifically in the villages of [[Vërnicë]], [[Trebisht]] Lladomericë, [[Gjinovec]], [[Klenjë]], Lejçan, Lubalesh, [[Ostren|Ostren i Madh]] and [[Ostren i Vogël]], Okshtun, Pasinkë, Radovesh, Sebisht, Sërpetovë, Stebleve, Tuçep, Tërbaç. An Albanian population dominated in the northern Gollobordë villages of Sebishtë, Pasinkë, [[Vërnicë]], [[Ostren|Ostren i Madh]] and [[Ostren i Vogël]].<ref name=Vidoeski214309339>{{cite book|last=Vidoeski|first=Božidar|title=Dijalektite na makedonskiot jazik. Vol. 1|year=1998|publisher=Makedonska akademija na naukite i umetnostite|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Uv1JAAAAYAAJ|isbn=978-9989-649-50-9}} p. 214. "Заедно со македонско христијанско население Торбеши живеат и во селата: Могорче, Требиште, Велебрдо, Ростуше, Јанче, Долно Косоврасти (во Река), Горенци, Житинени (во Жупа), Џепиште, Себишта, Пасинки, Големо и Мало Острени, Требишта, (во Голо Брдо),"; p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=Uv1JAAAAYAAJ 309]. "Во западна Македонија исламизирано македонско население живее во неколку географски региони на македонско-албанската пограничје:... Голо Брдо (Врмница, Владимирци, Гиновци, Клење, Лешничани, Љуболези, Големо и Мало Острени, Окштун, Отишани, Пасинки, Радовиште, Себишча, Српетово, Стеблево, Тучепи, Торбач, Џепишта)"; p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=Uv1JAAAAYAAJ 339]. "Во повеќето од спомнативе села живее население - со македонски и со албански мачин јазик. Албанското население доминира во северните голобрдски села (Себишта, Пасинки, Врмница, Големо и Мало Острени). Селата: Лешничани, Требиште, Српетово, Торбач, Љуболези, Владимирица и Тучепи се населени со Македонски муслимани (Торбеши), а во Себишта, Требиште, Г. и М. Острени живее мешано население - православни и Торбеши."</ref>

===Kosovo===
There is a presence of Torbeš in Kosovo.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W8nxDAAAQBAJ&dq=torbesh+%22turkey%22&pg=PA272 |page=272 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |title=Ethnic Minorities and Politics in Post-Socialist Southeastern Europe |year=2016 |isbn=978-1-107-15912-9 }}</ref><ref name="db"/>

===Turkey===
Along with other Balkan Muslims following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, Torbeš were helped by the Turkish government to settle in Turkey. These groups were labelled as Turks and all claimed Turkish descent.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zNwJCAAAQBAJ&dq=torbesh+%22turkey%22&pg=PA284 |title=Islamic Political Identity in Turkey |pages=47 & 284 |publisher=Oxford University Press |author=M. Hakan Yavuz |date=31 July 2003 |isbn=9780190289652 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=olQLDgAAQBAJ&dq=torbesh+%22turkey%22&pg=PA61 |title=Religious Minorities in Turkey |date=24 January 2017 |page=61 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |author1=Mehmet Bardakci |author2=Annette Freyberg-Inan|author2-link=Annette Freyberg-Inan |author3=Christoph Giesel |author4=Olaf Leisse |isbn=9781137270269 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Migration in the Southern Balkans |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S3zMCQAAQBAJ&dq=torbesh+%22turkey%22&pg=PA16 |year=2015 |isbn=9783319137193 |publisher=Springer }}</ref> In 1952, Yugoslavia and Turkey signed an agreement of free emigration that allowed Muslims from Yugoslavia to settle in Turkey. A total of 127,000 ethnic Turks, Torbeši, and other Muslims from Macedonia migrated.<ref>{{cite book |title=Историја и географија |year=2014 |publisher=Институт за новију историју Србије,Географски институт "Јован Цвијић" САНУ |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IhwkBgAAQBAJ&dq=torbesh+%22turkey%22&pg=PA351 |page=351 |isbn=9788670051256 }}</ref>

==Demographics==
The exact numbers of Torbeš are not easy to establish. The historian [[Ivo Banac]] estimates that in the old [[Kingdom of Yugoslavia]], before [[World War II]], the Torbeš population stood at around 27,000.<ref>{{cite book |first=Ivo |last=Banac |title=The National Question in Yugoslavia: Origins, History, Politics |page=50 |publisher=Cornell University Press |year=1989 |isbn=0-8014-9493-1 }}</ref> Subsequent censuses have produced dramatically varying figures: 1,591 in 1953, 3,002 in 1961, 1,248 in 1971 and 39,355 in 1981. Commentators have suggested that the latter figure includes many who previously identified themselves as Turks. Meanwhile, the Association of Macedonian Muslims has claimed that since [[World War II]] more than 70,000 Macedonian Muslims have been assimilated by other Muslim groups, most notably the Albanians.<ref>{{cite book |first=Hugh |last=Poulton |title=Who Are the Macedonians? |page=124 |publisher=C. Hurst & Co |year=1995 }}</ref>

===Ethnic affiliation===

During censuses, Macedonian Muslims' ethnic identity varies. While some declare as ethnic Macedonians, some declare as Turks or Albanians despite not speaking Turkish or Albanian. Others declare as Bosniaks or Gorani,<ref name=":0">{{cite book |title=Religion in the Post-Yugoslav Context |publisher=[[Lexington Books]] |year=2015 |page=129 |chapter=Religious Polarization of Macedonian Modern Society |editor1=Branislav Radeljić |editor2=Martina Topić }}</ref> with some declaring as Torbeš, Muslim Macedonians or Muslims.

There are some tensions with the Macedonian Christian community over the widespread association between Macedonian national identity and adherence to the [[Macedonian Orthodox Church]].<ref name="perry">Duncan M. Perry, "The Republic of Macedonia: finding its way", in ''Politics, Power and the Struggle for Democracy in South-East Europe'', ed. Karen Dawisha, Bruce Parrott, p. 256. (Cambridge University Press, 1997)</ref>

Identity for Macedonian Muslims is often tied to a belonging to their respective villages/localities.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Zadrożna  |first=Anna |title= 'I am Muslim but I am the European One': Contextual Identities among Muslims from Western Macedonia in Everyday Practices and Narratives. |url=https://www.academia.edu/4909745 |year=2013 |journal=[[Anthropological Journal of European Cultures]] |volume=22 |page=48 |doi=10.3167/ajec.2013.220203 }}</ref>

In Yugoslavia, Slavic-speaking Muslims were allowed to register themselves for the first time as a separate ethnic group. This new form of identification was mostly used by Bosniaks, but also spread as a choice in Macedonia, where in 30,000-40,000 individuals identified themselves as Muslims in 1981 and 1991. This number dropped to ~14,000 in 1994. In the 2002 census, many Torbeši identified themselves with ethnic groups of their Muslim co-religionists: Albanians and Turks.{{sfn|Damjanovski|2021|p=30}} The [[2021 North Macedonia census]] was the first to have a separate ethnic category for Torbeši; a total of 4,174 individuals in the country identified as such and a further 455 identified as "Muslim Macedonians". However, data at the municipal and settlement levels is not available for these groups. There were also 1,187 individuals who declared as [[Muslims by nationality|Muslims]].<ref name="T1006P21.px"/> Other Torbeši identified themselves as Turks, Albanians, and Bosniaks.

In municipalities containing the largest concentrations of Torbeš villages,<ref name="db">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5OSdDwAAQBAJ&dq=torbe%C5%A1+mavrovo&pg=PA291 |title=Historical Dictionary of North Macedonia |author=Dimitar Bechev |year=2019 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |page=291|isbn=9781538119624 }}</ref> the 2021 census results were as follows for individuals who participated in the census:

{| class="wikitable"
|+
|-bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! Municipality
! Muslim (%)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://makstat.stat.gov.mk/PXWeb/pxweb/mk/MakStat/MakStat__Popisi__Popis2021__NaselenieVkupno__Naselenie__EtnoKulturniKarakteristiki/T1012P21.px/table/tableViewLayout2/?rxid=391f4298-cffb-441f-ab02-65f4b712d1f9 |publisher=State Statistical Office |title=Вкупно резидентно население во Република Северна Македонија според изјаснувањето за религиската припадност, по пол, по општини, Попис 2021 }}</ref>
! Macedonian mother tongue (%)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://makstat.stat.gov.mk/PXWeb/pxweb/mk/MakStat/MakStat__Popisi__Popis2021__NaselenieVkupno__Naselenie__EtnoKulturniKarakteristiki/T1015P21.px/table/tableViewLayout2/?rxid=391f4298-cffb-441f-ab02-65f4b712d1f9 |publisher=State Statistical Office |title=Вкупно резидентно население во Република Северна Македонија според мајчиниот јазик, по пол, по општини, Попис 2021 }}</ref>
! Ethnic affiliations<ref>{{cite web |url=https://makstat.stat.gov.mk/PXWeb/pxweb/mk/MakStat/MakStat__Popisi__Popis2021__NaselenieVkupno__Naselenie__EtnoKulturniKarakteristiki/T1008P21.px/table/tableViewLayout2/?rxid=bbb33a5f-ef15-4c8d-bba9-b931af0dca1a |publisher=State Statistical Office |title=Вкупно резидентно население во Република Северна Македонија според изјаснувањето за етничката припадност, по пол, по општини, Попис 2021 }}</ref>                                                    
|-bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
|-
| [[Centar Župa Municipality|Centar Župa]]
| align="right" | 99.4
| align="right" | 28.6
| align="right" | Turk: 86.1%; Macedonian: 7.0%; Albanian 5.6%; Other 1.2%
|-
| [[Debar Municipality|Debar]]
| align="right" | 97.9
| align="right" | 32.1
| align="right" | Albanian: 60.7%; Turk: 19.7%; Macedonian: 8.3%; Other 3.1%
|-
| [[Mavrovo and Rostuša Municipality|Mavrovo and Rostuša]]
| align="right" | 79.2
| align="right" | 88.9
| align="right" | Turk: 33.7%; Macedonian: 31.9%; Other: 23.2%; Albanian: 10.2%
|-
| [[Plasnica Municipality|Plasnica]]
| align="right" | 97.4%
| align="right" | 0.30% (as declared in the census)
| align="right" | Turk: 97.13%; Macedonian: 0.23%; Other: 0%; Albanian: 0.31%
|-
| [[Struga Municipality|Struga]]
| align="right" | 67.9
| align="right" | 46.7
| align="right" | Albanian: 54.4%; Macedonian: 31.4%; Turk: 7.3%; Other: 5.1%
|-
|}
[[File:Rostuše 11.JPG|thumb|250px|The Old Mosque of [[Rostuša]]]]

==Culture==
The oldest Macedonian newspaper ''[[Nova Makedonija]]'' was first published in 1944 in [[Gorno Vranovci]], a village that was inhabited by Torbeši at the time.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Past in Question Modern Macedonia and the Uncertainties of Nation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3_1ZDwAAQBAJ&dq=torbesi&pg=PT284 |author=Keith Brown |year=2018 |page=266 |publisher=Princeton University Press | isbn=9780691188430 }}</ref>

Interethnic marriages are considered acceptable among Macedonian Muslims, whereas interreligious ones are not, though families are most likely to prefer marriage with those from within the nearby villages. Arranged marriage, common in the past, is now rare.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Zadrożna  |first=Anna |title= 'I am Muslim but I am the European One': Contextual Identities among Muslims from Western Macedonia in Everyday Practices and Narratives. |url=https://www.academia.edu/4909745 |year=2013 |journal=[[Anthropological Journal of European Cultures]] |volume=22 |pages=45–46 |doi=10.3167/ajec.2013.220203 }}</ref>

The Torbeš consider their local cuisine to be "Macedonian cuisine", while it shares commonalities with neighboring Muslim groups such as dishes for weddings and religious holidays.<ref>{{cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B4wwDwAAQBAJ&dq=torbeshi&pg=PA122 |title=Food Parcels in International Migration Intimate Connections |publisher=Springer |page=122 |author=K. Bielenin-Lenczowska |chapter=Torbeshi: From Reka to Ravenna |year=2018 |isbn=9783319403731 }}</ref>

==Political activities==
The principal outlet for Macedonian Muslim political activities has been the Association of Macedonian Muslims. It was established in 1970 with the support of the authorities, probably as a means of keeping Macedonian Muslim aspirations in control.<ref>Hugh Poulton, "Changing Notions of National Identity among Muslims", in ''Muslim Identity and the Balkan States'', ed. Hugh Poulton, Suha Taji-Farouki (C. Hurst & Co, 1997)</ref><ref name=":0"/>

Led by member of parliament Fiat Canoski, “organizations of Macedonians of Islamic religion… declared themselves as Torbeshi”. At the First Torbesh Forum, they adopted the “Torbesh Charter” and demanded separate inclusion in the preamble of the Constitution of the Republic of Macedonia.<ref name=":0"/>

A controversy broke out in 1995 when the Albanian-dominated ''Meshihat'' or council of the Islamic community in North Macedonia declared that Albanian was the official language of Muslims in Macedonia. The decision prompted protests from the leaders and members of the Macedonian Muslim community.<ref name="perry"/>

==Notable people==
*[[Jašar Ahmedovski]], Macedonian and Serbian singer.
*[[Ipče Ahmedovski]], Macedonian and Serbian singer.
*{{Interlanguage link|Fijat Canoski|bg|Фият Цаноски}}, Macedonian politician.
*{{Interlanguage link|Jakub Selimoski|bg|Якуб Селимовски}}, Yugoslav religious leader, reis-ul ulema.
*[[Aki Rahimovski]], Croatian singer
*[[Amel Rustemoski]], Macedonian footballer.
*[[Emir Saitoski]], Macedonian footballer.
*[[Menil Velioski]], Macedonian singer 
*[[Semih Kaya]], former Turkish footballer; his grandfather is a Torbeš
*[[Edin Nuredinoski]], Macedonian footballer.

==See also==
* [[Macedonians (ethnic group)]]
* [[Muslim Bulgarians]] and [[Pomaks]]
* [[Gorani (Kosovo)|Gorani]]
* [[Islam in North Macedonia]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|group="note"}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== Sources ==
*{{cite journal |last1=Damjanovski |first1=Ivan |title=Old Communities and New Controversies: the community of Macedonian-speaking Muslims between ethnicity and religion |journal=Political Thought |date=2021 |volume=62 |url=https://repository.ukim.mk/handle/20.500.12188/15349}}

==External links==
* {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091027005618/http://geocities.com/yusuf.ismailov/ |date=October 27, 2009 |title=Literature about the Islam and the Muslims on the Balkans and in Southeast Europe }} {{in lang|bg}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20160103013428/www.greekhelsinki.gr/pdf/cedime-se-macedonia-muslims.PDF Muslims of Macedonia]

{{Ethnic groups in North Macedonia}}
{{European Muslims}}
{{Slavic ethnic groups}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Torbesi}}
[[Category:Ethnic groups in North Macedonia]]
[[Category:Islam in North Macedonia]]
[[Category:Muslim communities in Europe]]
[[Category:Sunni Muslim ethnoreligious groups]]
[[Category:Slavic ethnic groups]]